Wednesday, July 2, 2014

My date with an ace baker - Pooja Dhingra and some Choco Squares from her book "The Big Book of Treats"

Le 15 Patisserie...Pooja Dhingra...rings a bell!?! Yes she is one of the country's top baker and is surely going places. It is not everyday that you get a chance to meet and then blog about such unique experiences. Well the thing is that I have been following her on Instagram for sometime now and have been mighty impressed with the things shes been doing - be it her take on classic desserts or some mind blowing innovations! I mean who would think of Macaron Cheese cakes!!! Yes that's Pooja Dhingra for you. It is her passion for baking that shines through. Armed with a degree from worlds best culinary school ,The LCB , Paris, shes an achiever with great entrepreneurial skills. Being listed in the Forbes Under 30 Entreprenuer list is no joke.

A chance call from a fellow blogger and I found myself being a part of the launch of her popular book "The Big Book of Treats" in Kolkata. The venue chosen was perfect- The Corner Courtyard. Beautiful property that serves up some great food. My fellow bloggers have had some amazing gastronomical experiences there. Read about it here and here. I reached the venue and was ushered into a packed hall full with baking enthusiasts from all over the city. I took my seat along with Amrita and Sayantani and waited for Pooja to start the private class. And there she was smiling all along and I thought to myself such a pleasing personality - soft spoken,so calm and down to earth. She taught the class 3 basic recipes of cupcakes,cookies and nutella squares but what is worth mentioning are the invaluable tips she provided along with. My regular readers know that I dread baking, its a culinary zone I push myself hard into so getting these tips from the master baker herself was so enlightening.

Pic taken from Amrita Gill

She was open to questions and queries and very happily posed for pictures and signed her book. I too got my copy signed by her ( my first signed book) and posed along with her. I came back home all charged up to try recipes from her book. The folks at The Corner Courtyard made sure that the guests are well taken care of with yummies doing the rounds every now and then. We also had the privilege of tasting the goodies she baked that evening - Vanilla cupcakes with frosting , Choco chip cookies and Nutella squares.

Pic taken from Amrita Gill

Pic taken from Amrita Gill

Once I got back home I was all set to try out a recipe from her book so I chose to bake some Nutella squares but with some changes. I followed the basic squares recipe and instead of Nutella used some chocolate sauce for the topping. They turned out super and I am now getting the confidence to try out a few more recipes.

In a microwave melt the dark chocolate and butter and leave it to cool.Add the brown sugar and whisk till combined properly.Fold in the flour with a spatulaand then add the oats and mix.Preheat the oven to 180C and grease an 8 inch tin. Pour the mix.Bake for 15 -20 mins.Once cool, spread the chocolate syrup evenly on top, decorate with sprinkles or nuts(in the original recipe).

Before I end the post, I must share with you all some basic baking tips that I picked up for Pooja Dhingra.

Always add flavours while creaming the butter as it absorbs better that ways.

Spend atleast 3-5 mins on creaming as it helps the cake to rise.

Scraping down the bowl every now and then is important

Sifting the flour is an important step, so is dry whisking.

Use piping bag to fill cupcake liners evenly

And above all never be afraid to experiment and create your unique flavours and combinations!